Fuel-feeding means.



1. A. WELTON. FUEL FEEDING MEANS.

APPLICATIQN FILE") AUG-7. I915.

Patented Oct. 24,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- J. A. WELTON.

FUEL FEEDING MEANS. APPLICATION FILED Aue.7, I915.

Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' menses.

JOHN A. WELTON, 0F CANAL DOVER, OHIO.

. 'rUnL-rnnnnve MEANS,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Jo n: A. WnL'roN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Canal Dover, in the county of Tuscarawas and State of Ohio, have invented certain.

the parts and the constructions and combina-' tions of parts which I will hereinafter describe and claim.

lln the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and in which similar reference characters lndicate l1ke parts in the several'views; f lgure 1 1s a sectional view with parts in elevation of. a portion of a locomotive boiler furnace showing my improved fuel feeding means in association therewith. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of a portion of the bottom of the coal hopper showing a couple of the controlling dampers. Fig. 2 is a detail of one of the dampers removed. Fig. 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail of a means for operating the dampers. Fig. 5 illustrates a means for operating the air shutter, 33. a

The present invention has, but not necessarily, reference to a means for feeding fine fuel to furnaces substantially of the type shown and described in my former Patent No. 1,127,136, dated February '2, 1915, namely, a locomotive boiler furnace, of any approved construction and which furnace has a combustion chamber, 10, to which access is afforded through a fire-door, 11. The combustion chamber is operatively connected to a boiler, 12, of any desired type.

lin the combustion chamber is preferably arranged a fire-arch, 13, of fire-brick or refractory material and in which arch perforations or openings are formed through which the products of combustion escape to the space in rear of the arch, the arch being herein shown as substantially straight, although it may have other form, and being supported on circulating tubes, 14, which connect with the water-space of the boiler casing.

It will be understood that the fire-box may have any desired form and the shell or cas- Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Uct, 2a, was.

Application filed Augultm 1915. Serial No. 44,180.

' .vfu'

ing of thefurnace may be of any design and construction well known in the art, and that the furnace is but illustrative of any furnace with which the fuel feeding features of the present invention may be operatively associated.

In the type of furnace shown, but to which specific furnace my invention is not restricted, the bottom, 15, thereof is formed of fire-brick or other refractory material having openings, 16, therethrough for the admission of air to assist combustion and which openings may also serve as escapes vforv ashes and cinders when the same are opened from below by means of an appropriate damper or slide, 17 having openings,

16', to register with the openings through the furnace bottom. Any other well known damper or means may be employed for the admission of the air to the fire-box without 1n any manner departing from the spirit of my lnvention, and said slide or damper is operable by a suitable lever, K, to which it I is connected.

Whatever the type of furnace employed, I use in connection therewith some means for both automatically and manually controlling the feed of fuel and air to said furnace. Various agencies may be employed for this purpose. For instance, I may use a pressure regulator, A, of some suitable type connected 'to the steam space of the boiler and having a stem, 18, which is connected to a lever, C, pivotally mounted on a floating or'sliding yoke or frame, D, having a notched quadrant engaged by a springpressed pawl, d, adapted to rigidly lock the lever to the yoke, said lever having, also, connected to it, a valve stem, E, for operating a valve in a casing, F, which controls the passage of steam through a pipe, 37, leading to a turbine or motor which forms a part of and actuates the fuel feeding appliances which I will hereinafter describe. The stem, B, of the pressure regulator may also be connected to a rod, G, which in tur is connected to an operating lever, H, which is pivoted on a movable or floating yoke or frame, L, similar to the one before described, having a notched quadrant engaged by a spring-pressed pawl, Z, adapted to rigidly lock the lever to the yoke, said lever, H, having also connected to it one end o-f a rod, J, whose opposite end is connected to an arm of a bell-crank or other lever, K, whose avoided; ,n By the arrangement" shown orthe equiva Ient'the eof',1Ia1n enabled to automatically other arm is in turn Connected to the slide or damp to the furnace:

Each of the levers, C and H, has a handle by which it may be manually operated, and in the length of the connecting rods, G and J, may be let a' compression spring case, M,

so that should the air damper be set as closed; and -..'.the pressure thereafter raised, the spring in the casing would be compressed and thus the strain would be taken from the rods, and, consequently, the danger of the' rods control the admission of air to the fire-,box

. manipulation of the levers,C and The autematie and'hand control ofthe fuel feed for combustion purposesbytheboiler pressure; I' 'am, 'a'lso, enabled to perform'this important function manually 'or by the liand Ialso accomplish'by similanmeans, as I willhereina'fter describe. The locomotlve boilerj furnace shown is appropriately connected to atender or tank 'car having a closed tank, 20, of any suitable by the inner-top wall of the'tank, is a tight" coal hopper,-21,"into whichthe fuel-in any desired state of subdivision may be admitted construction, andwithin which and closed "through an opening,- 22. The bottom of the tight coal hopper is of substantially-semicircular term in cross section and it is'pro vided from end to end with a series of d1scharges or openings, 23, substantially in the form of transverse slots and through which openingsthe fine coal is discharged intoj'a dust and air pipe,-'2 l, for deliveryby pneumatio orother means'into thc' combustion chamber of the aforesaid furnace.

Within -the-segmental bottom of the tightcoal hoppe-r is mounted an agitating roll, 25;

The form-of -'roll shown is provided with radial blades-26,- 'whichare designed to havea stirring -and lifting effect upon thefuel inthe bottom hf thehopper, and thus make it possible-forthis fuel to be more freely discharged throughthe-openings, 23, for

delivery into the furnace. The agitating roll-is mounted on a shaft, 27, on one end i of which-is secured a worm orother gear,

28, which is in mesh with 'a corresponding pinion, 29, on the end of a shaft, 30, the op'- posit-e end of which is-provided with a fan,

31. -This-fan operates with-in a suitable fan casing, 32 ,th'e inner side'of which is in open communication-with the outer or inlet end of the dustand air pipe, 24:, into which the fine fuel is delivered from thehopper. The

. outer side of--the fan-casing, 32,is provided with a rotary or other shutter, 33, controlling openings in=-the casing and'adapted to admitzair in desired amounts to be mixed with the fuel to assist combustion, and to r-"which controls the. air'admission the combustion chamber or brealrin gwould be and air pipe, l

The regulation of the dampers and of the and the agitating roll, 25, said turbine casing having an appropriate pipe, 38,throughwhich the exhaust stea In may be" delivered.

In order to accurately, automatrcallypr manually control the amount of fuel dc-' livered into the dust and air pipe,'24;, I show I the discharge openings in the bottom of. the

hopper as being controlled by suitable damp- 3 ers, 39. arranged in groups and for present purposes I have illustrated the dampers as being in four 'groups,'each damper being of substantially segmental form at the bottom and conforming to the casingand having a vertical or upstanding portion,40, which oper ates in and controls the aforesaid openings, the amount of fuel discharged: through the openings depending, of course, upon the degree to which the'dampers are opened.

These dampers are shown as Each damper has a depending'arm, ll, and" the dampers of each group are connected to a suitable rod, 42, the end of whichis connected to one arm of'a bell crank lever,

43, the opposite arm of said lever being in turn connected to a rod, 44', which is adapted tobe detachably engaged with ahead,

45, on the lower end of a damper regulating -mechanism for instance as that shown and described but not claimed, in my aforesaid the severaldamper operating rods with the former patent' The-manner of engaging regulator is unimportant; in .the presentinstance I liaveshownthe rods, 44, as having bent endsadapted to hook into engagement "with an [enlarged head formed on the lower end of-the regulator r od,-4:6, the purpose being to so detachably connect the several damper rods that any one or more sets or groupsof dampers may be'operated to regu-.

late the amount of fuel air shutter 33,-connectedto operate therewith maybe automatic-"(Suitmay be manufedinto the dust ally controlled and prm i'sion is made in the present case for-both operations. That the regulation may be automatic, I propose'to' mount {adjacent the hopper a pressure regu lator, 4 7, which may be of any well known character, and which in the present case is connected by a pipe, 48, conductingsteamfrom the boiler to the casing, whereby'the boiler pressure is. relied-upon; to'-actuate and this in turn-Wilk ns tyaoaeaa actuate those dampers, 39, which are operatively connected with the stem or rod of the pressure regulator, the amount of fuel delivered from the hopper into the dust and air pipe, however, depending upon the number of sets of dampers which are operatively connected with the rod or stem of the preslarged head, 45, or otherwise to better adaptit for the engagement and disengagement of the several rods, 42, which control the movements of the dampers, 39. The rod, a, may, if desired, have a turnbuckle, a, let into its length for adjusting purposes. The

' floating yoke, and by floating I mean a yoke having a vertical sliding motion, provided in any suitable manner, is supplied with a segmental rack, 50', and over this operates the end ofa suitable spring-pressed pawl, 51, which is mounted on the lever, 49, said lever having a handle by which it may be manually operated by the firemanor attendant.-

From this description it will be apparent that the operation of the pressure regulator by steam from the boiler imparts movement to the yoke, 50, and the members, a and 6, thereof and which in fact constitute the stem or shaft of the regulator, '47, and the dampers, 39, are operated through movement imparted to them by the bell-crank levers, 43, and connecting rods, 42; it is equally true that the operator may grasp the lever, 49, and by a movement of the same up or down he will open or close the dampers and thus regulate the amount of fuel which is fed from the hopper into the dust and air pipe, 24.

'From this description it will be understood that when the parts are in operation, the agitating roll will feed the desired amount of fine fuel into the air and dust pipe, 24, and the fan, 31, will project air into this pipe as the vehicle for carrying the fine fuel through the pipe and delivering under pressure through the head or nozzle end thereof and into the combustion chamber of the furnace. If the boiler pressure decreases and more fuel is necessary to restore the parts to proper condition, the pressure regulator, 47, will come into play in a manner well known to such devices and respond to the boiler pressure to open anyone or more of the series or groups of dampers, 39, and thus increase the fuel supply. If the boiler pressure increases above the amount desired, the regulator will operate to shut ofi any one or more of the groups of dampers and thus diminish the supply of fuel fed into the dust and air pipe. This regulation can, of course, as before described, be efi'ected by a manual operation of the hand lever, 49.

While the pressure regulator has auto matic control of the fuel at all times, there is also present the ever ready hand control,

giving, also, a manual control of the fuel and air feed.

While. I have shown and described the feeding devices as mounted on the tender of a locomotive, I do not limit the use of said devices to this location, as they may be otherwise placed; in fact the feeding devices may be used in'whatever connection they willbe found of advantage, independent of the tender, if desired, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

It will be understood that the foregoing features may be usedin connection with such accessories and minor features of detail, as

would be commonly employed by those fa-.

miliar with the art without departing from the spirit of my invention, and that the fuel feeding features herein described may be used in connection with any boiler furnace, stationary orotherwise, without departing from the scope of the invention.

The fuel dampers 39 or any number of them may be of ring form in which case the upper portions 40 of these rings extend above the agitating roll to thereby serve to support some of the weight of the fuel in the hopper, while the movement of the dampers when made more or less vigorous by the operation of the hand controlling ,de-

vices, will prevent any tendency of the fine fuel to pac and will cause it to be shaken down and be more uniformly fed to the furnace. From the above description it will be understood that by the use of the lever, C, or its equivalent, the speed of the turbine, 36, may be increased or decreased thereby blowing into the fire box of the furnace more or less air. By the manual adjustment or operation of the levers, H and 49, I am enabled to obtain a mixture of air and coal in sufficient quantities to move the largest load, and'I am permitted to utilize the exhaust steam from the engine operating the locomotiveto induce an additional amount of air to enter the fire-box'to complete combustion and in volume sufficient to move the largest load. This is accomplished by the adjustment of the damper, 17, which, it will be understood, is under the automatic control of the boiler pressure. and also. under the control of the fireman through the medium of the hand lever. The arrangement is such that the speed of the turbine may be controlled by the boiler pressure to regulate the volume of air blown into the furnace by the fan and to regulate the adjustment of the r ,IVJJ-M; 1; e .7 5 Hav1 ng thusdescribed my invent on What supply O :{;L1I adm tted to sa d conveyer, 'Igela m as new and desireftosecure Let; sa d automat c means havingnuxillary con- I nectlons thereln prov dlng for an 1n-depend-- w A.'; r$P t I- ti$ =-i w, a. ent manual control of the fuel and air hand,

.30 the combustion chamber [of a T'fu'rnace.

50 ingthe" discharged material-ltda furnace, ,..'antl means automatically."controllingsaid erating'ztlie dampers eitlier automatically" ,damper eonn'ecting" devices, sa'id automatic or manually and thereby reg'ulatili g the feed ineansli'avin'gauxiliary connections therein of the fuel, means whereby any one or more providingfol-fan,independent manual I 0on of the groups "of dampers may be rendered active or inactive atv pleasure,'mea'ns carried fif'In m'eeha'nlijsm" offth e character 'dejbyjthe dampers for agitating the fuel'in'the sc1il ed;"tlieIconibinaftion"ofahopper hav'- .lo\\ *e'r' portion of the hopper adjacent the plyr" This same adjustment and operation an'd means connecting with the damperis also accomplished manually through the selective devices for automat1cally actuaten ye e e h n .d ee-w i e'mhe Same, d t reby e n at i supply otlfuel fed to t1 e c'onveyer and In a e m' e f d e fl eee thecombination with,a supply' hopperhavsupply. f ing .fue' Outle 1 1' e x p t on, f

' dampers: controlling the fuel outlets, ,con theicombination Withasupply' hopper-havv nested automatic and manually-controlled ing fuel outlets, of dampers controlling the e n r Op in he d mp r n g ene' i J evi ss.) et i 2- n e t ng, .11 y. e ul fim s iez utom m lya pe s. n re- 11 m a whe b y '15 hand the feed of, the fuel 'anclmechanism or more-of the 'rou s of dam )ers mav be H. i..:\., --j\ l,v-" l N for )OSltlVGl COIIClLIClZIII thefueladvanced 0 erated elther autom'atlcall or manual] j.past the dampersnto thecombu stion chainto increase or decrease the feed of the fuel, 4 her of. a furnacepsa d mechanlsm including sa d last-named means compnslng rodseaclr 6. In a mechanism for feedingyline fuel,

the. i the I a; blower 'eontrolled automatically and by",'c0nnected{to agroup,ofsaiddampers, levers ""2; ln'niechani' sm foi'ffeedinLfifiiie-fuel, th reguntor comprising ainovable yoke," a dicombination with a; supply hopper having tofwv'hich the'rods are connected and a fuel vided rod mounted therein, a lever to which fuel'outlet's,,of'dampers controllingsaidout the members of saidrod 'areconnec ted, and

HM. .A ,v, v t lets, dev cesgselectl'vely connectlng wlth the rods each havlng' one end connected to 2' damped tmfj pemnng thel'atte'rl automatia damper operating[lever and 'having an eally,g'coi nectionsin'said automatic-devices opposite end detachahly connectible with, pe'rmitting'the damper's to lo'e' o erat'ed manone ofthe' members of said dividedrod'. 7. In anieclianism for'feeding fine fuel,

- uau'y, mi n we t n-we" eetings I the fuel del vered pastf the dampers into the comb nation with a supply hopper hav- "3II'n a"mechanism for ,iedingfine fuel," outlets, .inean's for operating 'the dampers the cjombinationj'wvith as upply hopper hiv either automatically oran'a'nually and thereing fuel "outlets, dampers controlling said loy regulating the feed of the fuel, said' .outl ets fmeans foi" sel'ec tivelyjconnecting the" :Ine'a'ns comprising rods each connectedfto a" 35 dampers in "g'ro ups, meansvvher'ebyany me} group ofsaid dampers, bell-crank levers to or"mo 're jofstlie gtoupsof the dampers may 'onearm ofivhich' the rods'are'connected, a ,,be operated au tomatieally,"said vlast-n'aI'ne'd fuel regulator comprising a movable yoke havi g auitili ary eonneetionspel mit anda divided rod mounted therein, a level" tincr off'tlie independent manual operation 'to ivliicli'the' members of said rod are co1i' 40 of the"'dain'persf, a'nollineans for cond'u'et'ing 'nect'ed, and means lfor detachably locking mania deliveredfpast the dampers into thelever to; tlie'yoke', said damper rods and i the lower end'af (me of the members'of the 4 in mechanism of the fcharact'ei' 'de- "divided rodlia-vingengageable connections scr bed, thecbtnbinationvwith fuel hopper" 'whereby' anyfonep'r more of the groups of" having tfian ver se1y"s10tted'bottom a'n'd' dam pers'mayfb rendered activeo'r inactive dampers controlling'the -same,'devices'selec at 'plea js'ui e,

-. tiv'ely connecting 't'hejda'mper's andthereby 1 8A In a mecl' aiiismffor feeding fine'fuel,

'coiit iolli'ng' theidischarg bf fuel ff'r'om'the gthe'co mbination 'Witli'a supply hopper 'havhopper, apneilina-ticlconveyer for onduct';

pers 'coiitrollingsai'd outlets, means for 0])- trol" of the damper. connecting fdevicesf 'f'ing fuel outlets, groups of connected'damf' dalmper's contr lling the samefdevices selec-Wdelivered' past the" dampers into the co1n-' 60tively connecting\vith tliedampers for 'con bustionchamberof a furnace."

ti'ollingtliedischarge of 'ljuel from thehopi' p p H v ,per, apne'm'natic conveyer' for conducting the combmation with agsup'ply hopper l1avthe"t l'ischatged'inatei ialt'o a furnace, said"ing"discharge openings 'inits bottom, of

v oonveyerj having an 'air'inlet operati vel'y j'mechan'is'm"comprising dampers controlling 6 connected to the damper-selective devices," fsaidfdischarge openings, devices selectively '7-- ,3 i a H I. Q

9. Ina-me'chanisinffor feeding fine fuel,

connecting with the dampers whereby any one or more of the groups of dampers may beoperated automatically to increase or decrease'the fuel discharged from the hopper,

said means including auxiliary connections therein permitting of an independent manual control of the dampers, and means for positively conducting the fuel delivered past the dampers into the combustion chamber of a furnace.

10. In a mechanism for feeding fine fuel, the combination with a supply hopper having a fuel discharge, of mechanism comprising dampers controlling said fuel discharge and means connecting the dampers in groups, means whereby any one or more of the groups of dampers may be operated either automatically or manually to increase or decrease the fuel discharge from the hopper, said last-named means including an automatic regulator having a two -part stem, a movable yoke in which the parts of the stem are mounted, said yoke having a rack surface and having a lever to which the adjacent ends of the two-part stem are connected and a pawl on the lever engageable with said rack surface and releasably looking the lever to the yoke, and a tubular chamber into which the fuel is received from the hopper, and means for pneumatically conducting the fuel through said tube and into the combustion chamber of a furnace.

11. The combination in an apparatus for feeding fine-fuel and air to boiler furnaces having a fire-box provided with air inlets, of means controlling the admission of air into said fire-box, said means including a damper having openings to register with said air inlets, mechanism for automatically controlling the air-admission, fuel-feeding mechanism connecting with the fire -box, connections automatically controlling the fuel-feeding mechanism, and means in said connections whereby both the air-admission and fuel-supply may be manually-controlled.

12., In apparatus for feeding fine-fuel and air to boiler furnaces, a damper controlling the air-admission into the fire-box of a furnace, said fire-box having air inlets and said chamber having openings to register therewith, connections whereby the damper is automatically controlled, means in said connections permitting the manual control of the damper, a fuel-supply and devices connecting therewith for automatically controlling the feed of fuel, and means in said last-named connections whereby the feed of fuel maybe manually controlled.

13. In apparatus for feeding fine fuel and air to boiler furnaces having a damper controlling the air admission into the fire-box thereof, the combination of means for automatically controlling the air admission into the fire bOX, means in said connections whereby the damper may be manually controlled, a fuel supply and means connected manually controlled, the connections con-.

trolling the air and fuel admission each comprising a regulator having a. stem, 2a movably mounted yoke having a lever to which said stem is connected, means for releasably locking the lever rigidly to said yoke, and a rod having one end connected to the yoke and having its opposite end adapted for connection to a part to be 0p.- erated.

14. In apparatus for feeding fine-fuel and air to boiler furnaces, the combination of a firebox provided with air inlets, a fuel-supply means, a pneumatic conductor for the fuel, an air-shutter controlling the admission of air to said conductor, a damper having openings to register with the air inlets of the fire-box for admitting regulable quantities of air to the furnace, and a unitary mechanism producing a combined automatic and manually-controlled means for operating the fuel-supply devices, the airshutter and the damper which controls the air-admission into the furnace.

15. The combination with a sliding damper and means automatically controlling the same, said automatic means having auxiliary connections therein permitting of an independent manual control thereof, and a yieldable connection in said controlling means to compensate for the thrust due to an automatic actuation of the latter when the auxiliary manually operated devices are in locked position.

16. The combination with the fire-box of a furnace having air-inlets and a sliding damper controlling the same, said damper having openings to register with said airinlets, of a fuel-supply, means regulating the discharge of fuel, devices for automatically controlling the fuel regulating means and said damper, said devices including connections permitting an independent manual control of the regulating means and damper, and a pneumatic conveyor for the fuel, said conveyer having an air-inlet connected to and controlled by said combined automatic and manually controlled devices.

17. In fuel-feeding mechanism for furnaces, the combination of fuel and air-supply devices, a rotor connected to said devices, and combined and connected automatically and manually-controlled appliances controlling the speed of said rotor and thereby adtomatically and manually regulating both the feed of fuel and the air-supply to the furnace.

18. In fuel-feeding mechanism for furfeed-roll within said rings having fuel agitating elements, said dampers being movable over the urved hopper bottom and having av plurality of transverse'slots adapted to register with theslotsin said hopper to Q thereby regulate the supply. of fuel, a shutter-controlled conveyereomprismg a casingm fan therein, and a rotor; and a combined automatically and manually-controlled means for controlling the speed of the rotor and for operating the fan" and. the feed-roll and curved bottom with transverse slots, a feedcopies of this patent may be obtained for roll within said bottom, groups of dampers,

openings in the bottom of the hopper, automatically and manually-controlled devices connected to said dampers, and means whereby thedampers maybe connected to or disconnected from the automatically and manually-controlled devices, said dampers having agitating elements operating in the fuel supply hopper for the purpose of preventing the fuel caking therein.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOHN A. WELTON.

five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Intenta, "Washington, D. G. 

